Unsheathed

Ning Yao told Chen Ping’an to return to the city wall first, reminding him to be careful on the way back.

Dong Huafu felt like this reminder was a bit extra and unnecessary.

He had always been a frank and honest person.

”Things will become troublesome if couples run out of extra and unnecessary things to say to each other”, Chen Sanqiu commented with a smile.

Dong Huafu nodded in agreement, after which he asked, ”And do you have the opportunity to say these extra and unnecessary things?”

Chen Sanqiu emulated the second shopkeeper and responded with a faint smile.

Dong Huafu was afraid of having the second shopkeeper hold a grudge against him, but he genuinely wasn’t afraid of Chen Sanqiu, who dreamed of becoming his brother-in-law. Thus, he rubbed more salt in the wound, asking, ”My sister didn’t join the lineage of the Hidden Official for the sake of hiding from you, did she? If she did, then that’s taking things too far. I’ll speak with her and put in a word for you when I get back. This is what friends are for.”

Chen Sanqiu shook his head and replied, ”That’s not the case. Your sister is a direct and straightforward person, and she’s completely honest about what she likes and dislikes. She wouldn’t do something like this.”

One’s romantic interest would always seem so perfect.

In any case, Chen Sanqiu had taken a liking to Big Sister Dong, his neighbor, ever since he was a little boy wearing open crotch pants. She had always been perfect, and he wasn’t being biased simply because he liked her.

For example, Chen Sanqiu had felt like the phrase ”childhood sweethearts” was the most moving in the world upon first encountering it in a book. The other sayings — a lake mirror-like in its stillness, autumn mountains glowing red like fire, or whatnot — could all stand on the sidelines.

Dong Bude wasn’t necessarily very beautiful.

However, the more Chen Sanqiu started to drink these past few years, the more he became intoxicated by Dong Bude.

Before Chen Ping’an had arrived at the Sword Qi Great Wall, Chen Sanqiu would always run over to Dong Bude’s section of the battlefield to watch her fight from afar if he were able to finish his battles earlier. One time, when the situation on the battlefield was dire, Chen Sanqiu had stepped forward to provide assistance. Dong Bude had thanked him afterward, but she had also followed up with some frank words that had pierced through his heart.

For the second time, Dong Bude had clearly told Chen Sanqiu that they were all sword cultivators and friends, so it was okay for him to render assistance on the battlefield. However, he shouldn’t develop thoughts about becoming Dao partners like those immortals in the mountains. She would shiver and get goosebumps whenever she thought about this. After returning to the city that time, Chen Sanqiu had drunk wine and ended up banging into walls and trees on the way back home.

Chen Ping’an’s wounds were quite severe, and this wasn’t just limited to his flesh and bones being terribly mangled and bloody. Instead, the most troublesome aspect was the remnant sword qi in his body, left behind by the flying swords of those demon sword cultivators. Additionally, there were also the wounds caused by the myriad offensive bonded items launched by the demon cultivators.

Surprisingly, however, Chen Ping’an appeared even more spirited and energetic than before. Ning Yao hadn’t seen such a bright glimmer in Chen Ping’an’s eyes for a very long time.

The Qi flowing through his body was as chaotic and disorderly as could be, but this wasn’t all bad news, and there were both benefits and drawbacks. Li Er had once mentioned his junior brother, Zheng Dafeng, experiencing some enlightenment when observing the plaques at the crab archway in the past, and Zheng Dafeng had mentioned after returning that the human body was much like an ancient battlefield ruin. Thus, the saying, ”refrain from looking outward,” wasn’t completely about seeking the intangible and cultivating the heart.

Chen Ping’an’s body was essentially a training ground right now, and he was coincidentally quite skilled at both untangling things and using his pure True Qi as a martial artist to suppress his spiritual energy as a cultivator.

He had also retrieved a damaged sword of unknown origin, with the sword not being very special apart from its extremely hefty weight. The sword was presumably made from good-quality material that was worth some immortal coins.

This would most likely be regarded as a legitimately divine weapon in the martial world of the small vassal nations in the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. In fact, even the mountain and water deities in these regions might feel slight apprehension toward this hefty sword.

Chen Ping’an traveled north on his sword, choosing to travel through the areas of the battlefield with fewer demons and only throwing a few punches here and there.

He didn’t directly ascend the city wall, and he chose instead to fly up to the highest horizontal stroke of the character, Badass, on the great wall. He sat down cross-legged and retrieved his Sword Nurturing Gourd, taking a few swigs of osmanthus wine as he took a few glances at the overall situation of the battlefield. He then calmly regulated his breathing and Qi as he deftly bandaged his wounds.

Looking at the gigantic characters engraved on the great wall, almost every single horizontal stroke was a brilliant place for cultivation.

When the demons charged the city wall and created a sloped ladder of corpses, however, these natural cultivation grounds for sword cultivators would often become locations of certain death.

Thus, the old sword cultivators, who sometimes managed to cultivate at these locations for several hundred years at a time, would definitely possess exceptional destructive ability and be remarkably skilled at self-preservation.

Sitting not far away from Chen Ping’an was one such old sword cultivator, who was nurturing his mind with his eyes closed. He didn’t stand up to welcome Chen Ping’an, so Chen Ping’an didn’t say anything to disturb the old sword cultivator’s peace and quiet as the latter nurtured his sword.

Looking at the old sword cultivator’s appearance, he was presumably Nascent Tier Sword Cultivator Yin Chen, who was recorded on the sixth page of Book C. He was already old, yet he still struggled to overcome his cultivation barrier, having remained stuck at the Nascent Tier for a very long time. Yin Chen was an unruly person, one who was alone with no family and no friends.

Generally speaking, sword cultivators at the Sword Qi Great Wall would all have a few close friends, whether alive or deceased. However, this wasn’t the case for Yin Chen, who had never had any close friends. His killing intent would be overwhelming when he entered the battlefield, and his sword attacks would often make no distinction between friend and foe.

As a result, his accumulated military merit was only middling despite having killed a great number of demons. In fact, his accumulated military merit was even less than that of some young Golden Core Tier sword cultivators. The reason for this was simple: much of his military merit had been canceled out by his indiscriminate actions on the battlefield.

Old Sword Cultivator Yin Chen naturally suffered a terrible reputation as a result, given that people naturally didn’t want to get too close and associate themselves with such an eccentric person, one who would even kill his own allies.

Every single local sword cultivator recorded in Book A and Book C also had additional annotations on their pages, written down by sword cultivators from the lineage of the Hidden Official. If the annotations became too long, then the sword cultivators in the summer palace would slip a few sheets of paper between the relevant pages.

However, there were very few annotations about Yin Chen, who was ranked extremely high in Book C. Only Chou Miao and Lin Junbi had left some brief annotations, though their opinions were in stark contrast to the general opinion of the Sword Qi Great Wall.

Almost every single sword cultivator would injure an ally by accident at some point in time, but these innocent mistakes wouldn’t draw much criticism. Yin Chen was different, however, and the old man would often calculate precisely the number of collateral deaths when unleashing his deadly sword strikes.

According to the distribution of roles planned by the lineage of the Hidden Official, Yin Chen only needed to guard this region and didn’t need to leave the city wall to kill enemies.

Chen Ping’an retrieved a Cleansing Talisman after bandaging his wounds, rapidly washing away the blood on his body. He was a guest, after all, so the host not welcoming him with a smile wasn’t a reason for him to forgo proper etiquette.

The old sword cultivator opened his eyes and remarked in a hoarse voice, ”You’re truly an interesting one, young lad. I’ve seen a few pure martial artists at the Sword Qi Great Wall, but their fists have always been suppressed by the flying swords and immortal treasures of others. You’re completely different, however, and you’re actually suppressing yourself.”

”Senior Yin has impressive observation skills,” Chen Ping’an turned around and replied with a smile.

”You don’t feel annoyed that I’m not referring to you as Lord Hidden Official?” Yin Chen asked.

”No, I don’t,” Chen Ping’an replied.

Yin Chen looked toward the frontline of the battlefield, where Ning Yao was helping to the north of the golden river, and other sword cultivators were fulfilling their duties and attacking the demon formation to the south of the golden river. Yin Chen chuckled coldly and commented with a snicker, ”One’s willpower will truly be susceptible to waning whenever one sees these so-called young prodigies. Comparing oneself to other people is very infuriating, after all.”

”Many more sword cultivators will feel the same way when they come across Senior Yin,” Chen Ping’an said with a smile.

In reality, Yin Chen had also been a young prodigy in the past. He was extremely outstanding, and his renown at the Sword Qi Great Wall had been roughly equivalent to the current renown enjoyed by Gao Yehou and Situ Weiran.

His advance along the path of sword cultivation had been extremely smooth, facing very few challenges until he reached the Nascent Tier. However, this cultivation tier had stopped him dead in his tracks, and several hundred years had now passed with no sign of progress.

Yin Chen smiled coldly and mused, ”What can trash do apart from gaze up and drool in secret? Take me, for example. I sit here idly year after year, gradually transforming from a young piece of trash into an old piece of trash.”

When it came to arguments, those who were vicious enough to scold and curse themselves would essentially be invincible.

”Did Senior Yin manage to see through that young demon sword cultivator just then?” Chen Ping’an asked.

”The Hidden Official is becoming increasingly inferior with each generation, huh?” Yin Chen snickered upon hearing this question. ”Your cultivation base is already quite low, young lad from outside, and you’ve relied on your nonsensical relationships to occupy this important position, gaining possession of Senior Xiao Xun’s summer palace and countless secret documents. Yet, you don’t even have this intelligence? Even if you don’t recognize him, can’t you at least guess?”

Chen Ping’an was unperturbed by these snide remarks. The old man could scold him to his heart’s content, while he would continue to ask his questions. ”Is he a prodigy from Holding Moon Mountain who’s ranked highly among the one hundred innate sword talents? Is he ranked as highly as Zhu Qie and Li Zhen?”

Yin Chen ignored Chen Ping’an’s question and continued his rant, scolding, ”I surmise that the Sword Qi Great Wall is hurling all kinds of vitriol at Senior Xiao Xun now, right? What a bunch of fatherless bastards. If I were Senior Xiao Xun, I would seek out all of the sword cultivators who have criticized me after breaching the Sword Qi Great Wall. Those who dare to criticize me to my face can live, and those who are too cowardly to do so can die. This is the only satisfactory solution.

”That’s right. You watched idly when Great Demon Yang Zhi brutally killed that sword immortal from the north before, choosing to look at the bigger picture instead. You were roundly criticized and scolded for your decision, so how did that feel? If you had your time again, would you let those death-seeking sword cultivators die on the battlefield and fuck off for good?”

”A’Liang once said to me that people should avoid death if they can,” Chen Ping’an replied. ”If facing some criticism can save many people, then does there exist a better deal in the world? I would hazard a guess and say not many.”

Yin Chen immediately shut his mouth.

This wasn’t because of Chen Ping’an’s belief and principle being sound and correct. This wasn’t the case at all.

Nor was this because the young Hidden Official was the Scholarly Sage’s closing disciple and Zuo You’s junior brother. In fact, it wasn’t even because of his good relationship with the old great sword immortal. Yin Chen didn’t care about these things at all. However, his head hurt greatly when this matter became linked to A’Liang.

Yin Chen had truly suffered greatly at the hands of the bastardly A’Liang for the past one hundred or so years. It was as if A’Liang had found himself a fat sheep and was shearing it to the bone. After the fat sheep was fully shorn, he would find himself some skinny sheep, and when those ran out, the fat sheep would have most likely grown some new wool. That would be perfect, and A’Liang would shear it again.

If this were all, then Yin Chen would have simply chosen to ignore A’Liang. However, A’Liang would genuinely squat down beside him and speak nonsense for hours on end, all for the sake of so-called making his journey to the Sword Qi Great Wall worth it by speaking to Old Immortal Yin. Yin Chen couldn’t help but tell him to fuck off, causing A’Liang to immediately turn on him, pressing him to the ground and giving him a good beating.

A’Liang had left completely refreshed and reinvigorated, performing his signature move and flicking his hair with his hands, saying at the same time, ”How satisfying! I’ve maintained a clean sheet after more than eight hundred arguments, both big and small.”

Still lying on the ground, Yin Chen had been stupefied for a long time after suffering a beating and hearing this remark.

Afterward, A’Liang had visited Old Immortal Yin very often, euphemistically saying that he was visiting to have heart-to-heart conversations with the old immortal. Borrowing these opportunities, he could also expand his clean sheet by one or two matches.

Yin Chen didn’t feel just resentment when he thought of A’Liang, especially since the two of them had never actually engaged in a sword duel before. More often than not, it had been A’Liang bragging about his popularity with ladies in the Majestic World. From the beginning to the end, however, he had failed to utter a single name to Yin Chen. There were also the occasional times when A’Liang would say something serious, with his remarks pertaining to the cultivation barrier that Yin Chen was facing.

Yin Chen needed to feel grateful for this regardless of how terrible his temper was.

Perhaps Yin Chen was bad at building relationships with others, but he was still well aware of the distinction between good people and bad people.

There were times when he understood this distinction so well that he couldn’t be bothered acting in a socially acceptable way.

Chen Ping’an and Yin Chen weren’t acquainted with each other, and the difference in their temperament was also far too great, so there wasn’t actually much for the two of them to discuss. Moreover, Yin Chen didn’t like to drink, or else Chen Ping’an could have gifted him a pot of Bamboo Sea Small World Wine.

”Do all of the pure martial artists in the Majestic World practice fist skills like this?” Yin Chen suddenly asked.

Chen Ping’an shook his head and replied, ”The process of learning fist skills and fist techniques is quite similar for everyone. It’s inevitable that one needs to be beaten up first. The only difference is how severely one is beaten up.”

”You didn’t feel embarrassed about picking up all that trash in front of Little Ning?” Yin Chen asked.

This was a good conversation starter.

Chen Ping’an smiled and replied, ”I have many bad habits, but fortunately for me, Ning Yao doesn’t mind them.”

”Your looks are also very ordinary and just passable, so how did you manage to attract Little Ning?” Yin Chen asked. ”I only heard about Little Ning traveling through the Majestic World, but I never imagined that she would fall for such a trap. If you ask me, I’d say that you’re far inferior to Cao Ci. I especially made my way to the city wall to take a glance at him, and you’re far inferior to him both in terms of looks and fist skills.”

This was becoming a very spirited conversation now. The old senior was clearly praising him.

Chen Ping’an hurriedly stood up and shuffled closer to Old Immortal Yin before sitting down and taking a swig of wine, replying with a chuckle, ”I admit that my fist skills are inferior to his, but in terms of looks? The difference isn’t very big. It’s not big at all.”

Unexpectedly, Yin Chen suddenly lost his temper and snapped, ”I need to nurture my sword, so please move aside, Lord Hidden Official. Stop being an eyesore and getting in my way.”

Chen Ping’an huffed and stood up, flying away on his sword.

Yin Chen clenched his hands into fists and placed them on his knees, smiling to himself as he thought that scholars from the Majestic World were all identical in their punchable nature.

Chen Ping’an returned to the thatched cottage on the city wall, smiling and greeting Great Sword Immortal Wei, who was almost single-handedly keeping the wine shop afloat with his patronage.

”What a good display of the Bastard Fist Technique,” Wei Jin commented with a chuckle. ”It looked very impressive on the surface, and you exemplified the demeanor of an elderly leader of some fist faction. You were only lacking in your speed of advancing through the enemy formation.”

Chen Ping’an had ruthlessly killed a Far Roaming Tier martial artist from the Savage World with his fists. The military merit gained from this naturally wasn’t a whole lot, but such a feat was relatively rare.

It was a good side dish to enjoy with some wine.

Chen Ping’an chuckled and replied, ”I’ll give you an extra bowl of yangchun noodles the next time you visit the wine shop to drink. That should help you sober up and spout less drunken nonsense.”

Wei Jin pointed at the thatched cottage behind him and said, ”The old great sword immortal isn’t in a very good mood, so you should chat with him more since you’re good at speaking.”

After parting ways with Wei Jin and jumping down the parapet, the old great sword immortal immediately walked out of his thatched cottage and habitually clasped his hands behind his back, remarking, ”Oh, if it isn’t the mighty Martial God Chen gracing my humble abode with his presence. ’Tis the honor of my life.”

Chen Ping’an found this very strange. The old great sword immortal had never been so ”polite” when speaking to him before, and his mental image of Chen Qingdu was still that of a highly respected and revered figure, one who cherished his words like gold.

Chen Qingdu glanced at Chen Ping’an, determining that his wounds weren’t too serious and that he had gained quite a lot in battle. Using his mind’s lake, he said, ”I owe you two secrets, and I can reveal them to you now.”

Chen Ping’an’s expression became serious.

However, the old great sword immortal’s two so-called small secrets were both absolutely astounding.

One secret pertained to the hometowns of all the prisoner sword cultivators at the Sword Qi Great Wall.

Looking at the earliest group of prisoner sword cultivators from primordial times, roughly half of them were shockingly from the Savage World, while the other half were from the fifth large world, which had now been established.

Chen Ping’an was stunned to hear this.

In other words, the descendants of half the prisoner sword cultivators were actually living in their home world right from the very beginning?

They were essentially living and dying in their home world?

As for the descendants of the other half of the prisoner sword cultivators, they needed to return to the fifth large world if they wanted to return to their motherland. Perhaps they would have the chance to achieve this if they managed to survive.

The second secret was even bigger.

Chen Qingdu’s description was simply earth-shaking: The path of ascension trodden by pure martial artists was actually a path to achieving godhood, with part of this process having ties to Militarian cultivators.

Chen Ping’an already had some suspicions before, so he was able to immediately join many dots together when he learned this secret from the old great sword immortal. For example, he was no longer puzzled about why the path of martial arts had the Vajra Body Tier, where one would develop a godly body. After all, godly bodies and golden statues were fundamental aspects of the Great Dao for deities in the world.

Disregarding those ghosts and heroic spirits that had become deities and focusing only on living humans who had ascended to godhood, being reduced to nothing but bare bones was an inescapable part of the process. The Iron Talisman River’s Water Goddess Yang Hua had experienced this process, and it was actually very similar to the process of martial artists tempering their physiques and strengthening their tendons and bones.

Chen Qingdu didn’t explain everything down to the last detail, especially since Chen Ping’an was very fond of mulling over things. He would have ample time to explore the first few pages of the old lunar almanac in the future.

The old great sword immortal walked slowly with Chen Ping’an. They had already started to stroll across the city wall, so he naturally couldn’t turn around and leave after taking just a measly few steps. Thus, he offered some further explanation, saying, ”Gods and immortals have been distinct and different from the very beginning, with gods coming first and immortals coming afterward. Why is this? According to the current explanation, human souls that don’t disperse after death can be viewed as having achieved godhood. They can enjoy incense offerings from the mortal world, and they can stabilize their godly bodies without needing to cultivate at all.

”On the other hand, those who don’t die are regarded as immortals, like those Qi refiners hiding in the mountains. Scholars always remove and skip over things when writing history books, causing these records to deviate further and further from the truth. You can wander around the three Confucian schools if you get an opportunity in the future, and you should be able to flick through a few old and worthless books. You should be afforded this small privilege, seeing that you’re the closing disciple of that old scholar.

Chen Ping’an listened carefully and committed this information to memory. It was of little significance for the moment, and if he were being completely pragmatic, it could be regarded as utterly useless.

However, what Chen Qingdu said next caused Chen Ping’an to obediently prick up his ears and listen, afraid that he would miss a single character.

”Far Roaming comes before Mountain Summit, after which one will reach the tenth tier of martial arts. This tier is divided into three minor tiers, which are the Thriving Qi Tier, the Simplification Tier, and the Divinity Tier. The last minor tier is also known as the Deity Arrival Tier. What does this mean? I remember there was a saying from your hometown, and how did that go again?” Chen Qingdu asked.

”Arrived at the door!” Chen Ping’an replied instinctively.

”If a person is skilled enough, whether that be in farming, firing pottery, or something else, then others will praise them by saying that they’ve arrived at the door.”

Chen Qingdu nodded and continued, ”Yes, arrived at the door. What door have they arrived at? And how should they walk this path? Who should guard the door? The answers to all of these questions existed in the small town... What was that saying?”

”Save it for later,” Chen Ping’an replied.

Chen Qingdu smiled and nodded in response before describing the three minor tiers of the tenth tier in more detail.

There was a rare look of slight reminiscence on the old great sword immortal’s face.

Over at the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, one of his old friends had also imprisoned themself for close to ten thousand years.

Thus, Chen Qingdu said something completely off-topic, remarking, ”Embroidered Tiger Cui Chan is truly very impressive.”

”Back then, I was able to safely pass my first trial of self-reflection thanks to Mr. Qi’s help,” Chen Ping’an said. ”When Mr. Qi was no longer around, I was unable to push past the second trial of self-reflection no matter how much I struggled. And that was despite Cui Chan not placing the Go pieces with his full strength.”

”These difficult challenges that are ultimately overcome will figuratively leave craters in one’s heart. The larger these craters are, the more they can hold in the future,” Chen Qingdu said.

Chen Ping’an nodded in response.

On the flip side, however, one might spend their entire life trying to fill in these craters. For example, the more the world was unfair to a child, the more the child would need to repair and make up for things when they grew up.